Ball-bearing roller mounting for sliding doors or the like



Oct. 15, 1929.-

Errz 1,731,659

BALL BEARING ROLLER MOUNTING FOR SLIDING DOORS OR 'I JHE LIKE Filed Oct. 18, 1928 IN ENT OR W W,

ATTORNEYS i Patented ()ct'. 15,1929

UNlTEDV STATES PATENT OFFICE MEYER GREIT ZER OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY BALL-BEARING ROLLER MOUNTING FOR SLIDING DOORS OR THE LIKE Application filedjdctober '18, 1928. Serial No. 313,251.

This invention relates in general to ball bearing roller or sheave mountings for sliding doors and the like and particularly for frameless glass and wooden doors such as are used in show cases.

One object of the invention is to provide aroller mounting for sliding doors embodying a novel and improved construction and combination of roller and track therefor whereby easy and smooth sliding of the door may be obtained and the chattering, sticking and jamming of the door as well as the possibility of the roller jumping from-the track are obviated. a

A further object is to provide a roller mounting particularly for sliding doors the planes of which are inclined, :said mounting being so constructed as to prevent movement of the door out of its normal plane in such a manner as to rub or bind upon the adjacent parts of the show case or the like, and so as to avoid uneven and binding strains of the roller upon its track as is common in known types of roller mountings when used on inclined doors.

Other objects are to provide a roller mounting for sliding doors comprising a plurality of rollers which are attached to the bottom edge of the door and run in concave or channel tracks attached to a fixed support such as the bottom of a show case; to provide in such a roller mounting a novel andimproved roller; to provide a novel and improved track for roller mountings for sliding doors, and to obtain other advantages and results as will be more fully brought out by the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which corresponding and like parts are designated throughout the several views by the same reference characters I Figure 1 is a front elevation of a show case having sliding glass doors provided with a roller mounting embodying my invention, portions of the show case being broken away.

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary View similar to '16 bent as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings,

Figure 2 showing a roller mounting embodying my invention for inclined doors.

Figure 4c is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure '5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 2, and I Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the invention applied to a wooden door.

v Specificallydescribing the illustrated embodiment of the invention the reference character A designates a showcase of known construction comprising a bottom 1, back wall 2 and top 3. At the front of the show case are arranged a pair of sliding glass doors 4 which are longitudinally slidable at their lower and upper edges in guides 5 and 6 respectively connected to the bottom and top walls of the show case.

The bottom edges of the doors and the lower guide 5 have embodied therein the roller mounting constituting my invention. This roller mounting consists of a plurality of ball bearing rollers 7 each of which is journalled upon. a stub shaft 8 secured in a yoke 9 which is substantially U-shaped in crosssection and comprises a base portion 10 and two, parallel arms 11 having openings 12 which receive the ends of the shaft 8. The rollers are preferably mounted on ball bearings 13 of any suitable construction. rThe outer peripheries of the rollers 7 are transversely curved as at ll and are adapted to run in and cooperate with a channel track 15 having a cross-section[corresponding sub- "stantially'to that of the periphery of the roller. VVhere there are two doors, a track 7 15 is provided for each door and preferably the two tracks are'made from one piece of material, for example a piece of sheet metal to formtwo parallel and spaced tracks.

The rollers may be applied to the bottom edges of the'doors in any suitable manner. Where glass doors '2 re utilized a brass shoe 17 is usually attached to the bottom edge of the door, and in-accordance with. my invention this brass shoe may have struck therefrom a pair of tongues 18 for each roller, said tonguesbeingadapted to pass through corresponding slots 19 in the base of the roller yoke 9 and then bent so as to overlie the inner side of the base portion 10 of the yoke as clearly shown in Figure 4:, whereby the yokes are fast secured to the shoe 17. here wooden doors are utilized, the base portion 10 of the roller yoke may be formed with openings 20 to receive screws 21 whereby the yoke may be secured to the bottom edge of the door as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show the invention applied to vertical doors, while Figure 3 shows the roller yoke is arranged at an angle to the applied to inclined doors. The construction is substantially the same as that above described except the base portion 10 of the roller yoke is arranged at an angle to the arms 11 as indicated at 21 so that when the roller is applied to an inclined door 22, the roller may remain in avertical plane, the illclined base portion 21 of the yoke compensating for the angularity of the planes of the roller and the door. Viith such a construction movement of the door out of its plane by action of gravity against the adjacent side of the guide 5 is prevented, as is also the tendency of the roller tomove laterally relative to its track.

Therefore in both forms of the invention illustrated, the rollers run easily and without chattering or bumping along their respective tracks, and there is no possibility of'the rollers becoming disengaged or jumping from their tracks and jamming against the sides and a track for said rollers secured to said support, said base portions being secured to the lower edge of the door so that the rollers rotate in a vertical plane when said door is mounted.

3. The combination with a door to be slidably mounted, a support for the bottom edge and a guide at the top edge thereof, said door having a sheet metal shoe at the bottom edge thereof with tongues struck up therefrom, of a plurality of roller bearings each comprising a U-shaped yoke having a base portion and parallel arms, a roller journaled in said arms,

said base portion having a plurality of openings one to receive each of said tongues on sald metal shoe and said tongues passing through the respective openings and overly-.

ing said base portion between said arms to secure said roller bearingsto said door.

4. The combination with a door to he slidably mounted, a support for the bottom edge and a guide at the top edge thereof, said door having a sheet metal shoe at the bottom edge thereof with tongues struck up therefrom, of a plurality of roller bearings each comprising a body and a roller journaled thereon, said body having openings one to receive each of said tongues on said metal shoe and said tongues passing through the respective openings and overlying said body between said arms to secure said roller bearings to said door.

MEYER GREITZER.

of the guide 5. The particular construction also admits of the rollers being made small enough to be enclosed by the guide 5 so as to provide a neat appearance of the doors.

WVhile I have shown and described my invention as embodying certain details of construction it should be understood that this is rimarily for illustrating the principles of the invention and that many modifications and changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a door to be slidably mounted with its plane inclined, a support for the lower edge of said door and a guide for the upper edge thereof, of a plurality of roller bearings journaled on horizontal axes upon the lower edge of said door, and a track for said rollers secured upon said support so that said rollers rotate in a vertical plane when said door is mounted.

2. The combination with a door to be slidably mounted with its plane inclined, a support for the lower edge of said door and a guide for the upper edge thereof, of a plurality of roller bearings each comprising a yoke having a base portion and a pair of substantially parallel arms at an angle to said base portion, a roller'journaledupon said arms, 

